In about 630 or 631, a diocese was established by
St. Felix for the
Kingdom of the East Angles, with his
episcopal seat at
Dunwich on the
Suffolk coast. In 672, the diocese was divided into the sees of
Dunwich and Elmham by
St. Theodore,
Archbishop of Canterbury. The line of bishops of Elmham continued until it was interrupted by the
Danish Viking invasions in the late 9th and early 10th centuries. By the mid 950s, the sees of Elmham and
Dunwich were reunited under one bishop, with the
episcopal see at Elmham. After the
Norman conquest, the see was transferred to Thetford in 1075, and soon afterwards to Norwich in 1094. Though the see took the name Norwich in the 11th century, its history goes back 400 years earlier, to the final conversion of the
kingdom of East Anglia by
St Felix. The East Angles became
Christian during the reign of
Sigeberht, who succeeded to the kingdom in 628. Felix fixed his see at
Dommoc, which may have been at
Dunwich, now almost entirely submerged off the
coast of Suffolk. From there he evangelized the areas corresponding to the modern counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and
Cambridgeshire, which later were to form the diocese of Norwich. He was succeeded in turn by
Thomas in 647,
Brigilsus (died about 669) and
Bifus. Upon the death of Bifus, in 673
Theodore, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, divided the see between Dunwich and Elmham. The see of Elmham came to an end in about 870, after the East Anglian king
Edmund and the bishop
Humbertus were murdered by the Danes. East Anglia was ravaged, the churches and monasteries destroyed, and Christianity was only practised with difficulty.
Wilred, Bishop of Dunwich seems then to have reunited the dioceses, choosing Elmham as his see. The line of his successors at Elmham then descended to
Herfast, a chaplain to
William the Conqueror, who removed his see to
Thetford Priory and died in 1084.
Herbert de Losinga obtained his appointment in 1091 by means of a
simoniacal gift to King
William Rufus to secure his election, but being subsequently struck with remorse went to
Rome in 1094 to obtain
absolution from the
pope. Herbert founded a
priory in Norwich in
expiation for his sin and at the same time moved his see there from Thetford in 1094 under William. The See of Thetford was formed when
Herfast moved the
episcopal see from Elmham to Thetford in 1075. This short-lived see continued until it was moved to Norwich in 1094.), and the abbeys of the
Augustinian Canons at Wendling, Langley, and Laystone. Both Dominican and Franciscan convents were to be found at
Lynn, Norwich,
Yarmouth, Dunwich, and Ipswich, while the
Dominicans also had houses at Thetford and Sudbury and the Franciscans at Bury St Edmund's and at
Walsingham, where the great shrine of Our Lady was, a foundation of Augustinian canons. The Carmelites were at Lynn, Norwich, Yarmouth, and Blakeney; and the Austin Friars at Norwich, Lynn, and
Orford. The last bishop before the start of the
English Reformation was
Richard Nykke (succeeded 1501), who was succeeded by
William Rugg in 1536. After him came in 1550
Thomas Thirlby, who had already been appointed Bishop of Westminster by the King alone but was reconciled to the Pope in the reign of Queen Mary. After him in 1554 came
John Hopton, the last Bishop of Norwich in communion with Rome, who died in 1558. In the early 17th century, Bishop Wren urged the restoration and beautification of churches, much previously neglected, and the use of copes in worship against a background of resistance. Several successors including
Richard Montagu a public controversialist, continued attempts to restore a degree of catholic worship. However, Norwich was heavily influenced by
Puritanism and in 1643, a Puritan mob invaded the cathedral and destroyed all Catholic symbols. (The bishop of the day, Joseph Hall, wrote despairingly of the despoliation, in his book,
Hard Measures). Almost in ruins, the cathedral would be repaired at the
Restoration. ==List of bishops of Norwich==